At close range, MOTHERSHIP follows the complex and demanding work aboard the “Ocean Viking”, whose crew members have dedicated themselves to civil sea rescue in the Mediterranean in the wake of the collective failure of European nations to ensure safe passage. They pick up individuals crammed in unseaworthy boats, provide food, medical attention and psychological counselling and offer protection from the Libyan coast guard, which, equipped by European tax euros, attempts to force people back into the internment camps of the African coast in the scope of violent pushbacks. At the same time, the crew tries to compel Italian authorities to observe European law and grant them entry permits for ports. A captivating, must-see portrait full of tiny glimpses of hope in an age where the last humane values are at risk of capsizing alongside thousands of fellow humans every year.

Muriel Cravatte, born in 1969, holds dual Belgian and French nationality. After graduating from the Image section of INSAS in Belgium, she worked as an assistant camera operator, then musician and videographer, before going on to work as a director and cinematographer for both fiction and documentary films. Following several short fiction films, in 2020, she directed her first feature-length documentary, TOMORROW IS FAR AWAY (premiered at Cinéma du Réel 2020 in Paris), followed by MOTHERSHIP in 2023. She is currently developing a feature-length fiction SILENCES.

Filmography: 2011 ROUBATO, 2013 AU LOIN (both short films), 2020 TOMORROW IS FAR AWAY (documentary), 2022 ANGRY (short film), 2023 MOTHERSHIP